Marvel movie fans know what they’re getting from Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and Iron Man; what we don’t yet know is what to expect from Sir Ben Kingsley’s performance as the villainous Mandarin in Shane Black’sIron Man 3. When the new trailer debuted, audiences were split on Kingsley’s choice of accent, comparing it to the affected tones of Tom Hardy’s Bane in the recent superhero smash, The Dark Knight Rises. Marvel Studio’s president and producer on Iron Man 3, Kevin Feige, previously commented on what the film’s version of the Mandarin would be like compared to the comics. Now, Feige talks about Kingsley’s performance of the infamous character and how he managed something that’s never been done on a Marvel movie set before.

Feige recently spoke to USA Today (via CBM) about the on-set presence of Kingsley as the Mandarin. An Oscar-winner for Gandhi and nominated for three Oscars since then, Kingsley surely carries himself with an air of confidence and professionalism that, at least, demands respect and, at most, could put a bit of fear into cast and crew. So how did the seasoned vets of Marvel Studios handle his performance?

“On his last take of his first full day as the Mandarin, when they yelled ‘Cut!’ the entire crew burst into applause, spearheaded by Mr. Downey himself,” Feige says. “It was pretty amazing to see that.”

Feige also said that he could count on one hand the number of times that’s happened previously. (Then again, there are only six Marvel films previous to this one so…we’ll just overlook that for a moment. Moving on.)

“That’s what you get when you hire Sir Ben Kingsley. He’s so excited about his part and so into this character, and frankly just scaring the heck out of everybody,” Feige says. “They’re like, ‘You’ve broken us out of our skeptical malaise!’ “

We’ve got a long road ahead until next May, but we’ll certainly be getting more in the way of clips and footage from Kingsley between now and then. Get caught up on our Iron Man 3 coverage here.

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